NEW DORP — She took several steps outside the New Dorp ShopRite, and now Marie Starace is fighting for her life.

The 70-year-old Tottenville woman, who handles online orders at the supermarket, was struck by an SUV Tuesday morning in what many refer to as a “nightmare” parking lot that’s an “accident waiting to happen.”

The tragic episode unfolded about 10:52 a.m. just outside the entrance to the Hylan Boulevard store.

Ms. Starace works as an “online shopper,” according to several ShopRite employees. That means she selects and gathers groceries for people who have submitted Internet orders for home deliveries, those employees said.

A woman driving a white Buick SUV, identified as Nancy Giambrone, 42, apparently did not see Ms. Starace as she walked in front of the store, said an NYPD source familiar with the investigation.

Her vehicle struck Ms. Starace as she walked, knocking her to the ground and causing head trauma, the source said. The driver did not appear to be going particularly fast, and investigators have found no indication thus far that she was impaired or using a phone, the source said.

Staten Islanders railed in online remarks on Facebook and SIlive.com about the store’s lot, calling it “frustrating” and “near impossible” to navigate.

Several pointed out the displays and stacked stock items routinely gathered outside the front of the store can make maneuvering tricky.

On Tuesday, drivers looking to make a left turn in front of the supermarket in order to join a line of traffic waiting to get back on Hylan Boulevard found their view partly obscured by a pumpkin display underneath a large tent. “The outside displays ... need to be taken down. ... A driver cannot see safely the next lane over,” said prolific SILive commenter “chef87.”

A man who identified himself as a manager at the store declined comment on the scene Tuesday afternoon, and attempts to reach Ms. Starace’s family were unsuccessful Tuesday.

Kevin Mannix, owner and operator of the Island ShopRite stores, referred all questions to the chain’s corporate headquarters.

As of Tuesday evening, Ms. Starace was listed in critical condition in the intensive care unit of Staten Island University Hospital, Ocean Breeze.